No. 19 Men’s Cross Country Finish Third at the 44th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational - Stonehill

Murphy leads Skyhawks to a third-place finish

DARTMOUTH, Mass. (September 17, 2016) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team, ranked 19th overall in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, tallied a fifth-place finish overall out of 33 teams comprised of Division I, II and III teams Saturday morning at the 44^th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational.

The Skyhawks scored 99 points for its third-place mark, while American International College won the meet with 52 points and Trinity College came in second with 60 points. Westfield State University (180) and Brandeis University (193) rounded out the top five at the invitational.

The men took second at the invitational in 2012 with a total of 45 points.

Junior Jimmy Murphy (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) finished with a time of 25:34.34 crossing the line 11^th in the field of 242 in the eight-kilometer course. Freshman Michael Durkin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) was the next Stonehill runner across the finish with a time of 25:36.57 taking 14th. Sophomore Christopher Drace (Franklin, N.J./Pope John XXIII) finished the course 24th with a time of 25:55.29, while junior Alex Southiere (Cumberland, R.I./Cumberland) and freshman Benjamin Garcia (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray New Gloucester) rounded out the five Skyhawks with a 28th-place and 31^st-place finish and tims of 26:04.29 and 26:07.01.

Freshman Chris Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) followed Garcia as he placed 32^nd crossing the line with a time of 26:07.01, as sophomore David Lockhart (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) and John Onken (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) finished in the top-50 with a time of 26:24.39 (37th place) and 26:42.07(43^rd place).

Stonehill will take some time off as it prepares for the Lehigh Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University, which will take place on Saturday, October 1.

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